This invention pertains generally to multimedia presentation system and more specifically to systems wherein the multimedia presentation may be edited by a user.
Current storytelling media and applications are limited in that they do not embody both presentation and composition functions in one integrated system. The creative aspect and the viewing aspect of a story presentation (whether a story is included in a novel, a play, or a movie) are treated as two completely separated human activities. Despite enormous technological advances of recent years, conceptually, the storytelling remains as old as that of the first printed book: a one-way communication encased in an irreversible apparatus.
Another limitation of current storytelling media and applications is the limited life span of the traditional storytelling media. For instance, a movie despite its complexity and scale, much like a disposable camera, is a “one-use” event as far as the contents are concerned. From an economic point of view, despite enormous financial risk, it forces content of this nature to be mass produced and mass distributed. Anything less of a mass-market scale would become “uneconomical”. Most of today's media are produced with this predicament. But from the creator's (or the consumer's to a larger extent) point of view, such impediment of “disposable content” per se is a total waste of talent and money. After all, “good” content creation is an arduous and expensive undertaking. Therefore, for both producers and consumers alike, a controlled means of renewable and re-editable content that could extend and regenerate life from itself is highly desirable. For example, “post-first-run” movie market and its ancillary merchandising market would be enhanced if the movie studios could re-release their titles in a format or apparatus that not only replays contents passively as “video” but also includes interactivity and functionalities for editing, recomposing, and renewing of the original content.